@ratboy
there is a snowstorm in southern minn. that missed us by40 miles.some places got 8-10 inches.
@sj
you will like coffee steve he’s from mt. washington kentucky.

Cathy

But Ratboy, they are saving money by getting the $5 coffee because they get free internet that way. They are saving $50 a month by not having internet in their apartment.

Having a 21 and 19 year old son in college and a 16 year old in High School, I understand the wasteful spending done by students and and their parents. (Ask the people with $100,000 student loan debt how many times they went on spring break.)

Ann Arbor has a great transportation system. U of M students get to ride the buses for free. Rent for a 8×8 bedroom with kitchen access and bathroom access is $700 – $1000 a month within 1 mile of campus. However if you go 2 miles out on a bus route you can get a three bedroom apartment for $1050 a month. So, with two friends you have rent of only $350. Buses leave every 8 minutes and its a 10 minute ride to campus. But still 80% of the students pick apartment close to campus and complain about the $12000 a year rent cost.

Cathy

Good morning all. 45 and cloudy here. It’s nice not having to put a coat on to get the mail.

Hope you have a great day Sj.

d.d.

In the 50’s here , gloomy, & pouring rain

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Rats, you were spot on . usa is back to being feaherweight. It was his choice. I can remember when Gabriel started here ; he was on a perpetual rant. He became a mesured poster. He hasn’t been around much. Let’s hope her has a new girlfriend. When is a new pope chosen , he’ll probably chime in with his usual backsliding.

The President and others keep going back to five key myths about minimum-wage workers. Heritage labor expert James Sherk has already debunked them all.

Myth #1: Hordes of Minimum-Wage Workers

Very few Americans are actually working for the federal minimum wage—it’s just 2.9 percent of all workers in the United States.

In other words, 97 percent of American workers make more than minimum wage.

=============================

My BS radar goes off whenever I see an ‘expert’ on anything try to pull a fast one with semantics. The group of minimum wage earners was always destined to be small because we’re talking about EXACTLY $7.25/hr. In reality though, the percentage of Americans earning less than $7.50 or $7.75 per hour is larger than 3%. Probably much larger than 3%, but we’ll never know because the Heritage Foundation does not include a $7.35/hr job into their dogmatic calculations.

d.d.

Up for a laugh ?

Al Gore talks about uncertain ‘Future,’ spider goats at talk at South by Southwest on Saturday

This is where Gore introduced the spider goat—a genetically modified animal that’s about to become as popular as the honey badger. Gore explained that spiders are difficult to farm “for obvious reasons,” yet their silk is extremely valuable. Genetic engineers have taken the genes from orb-weaving spiders and spliced them into the DNA of goats, so now these goats produce silk from their udders along with milk. The silk can be filtered from the milk more easily than silk can be collected from spiders—thus, a more economical way to farm silk.

Hmmm….. 3 D printers on their way to being 4 D printers, sure. Goats producing silk from their udders along with milk, not so sure.

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Glad to see you back, Gabriel. We may not think alike, but, that’s ok. I always read you.

Doug Z

mikey o
Posted March 10, 2013 at 8:32 PM

@USA8888 Cant answer the question why has the 50 year war on proverty failed ??? Numbers show its a failure you cant handle the facts ?

That is the period for the decline in making of product, The manufacturing. Without product to sell you have no money, product is something to sell and put people to work.

You know I am a neocon, Just saying. I love the truth.

DB

USA, will you promise to leave the site if McConnel beats Judd. I’m sure you will go along with this because you have stated with certainty that Judd will win.

Doug Z

DB
Posted March 11, 2013 at 9:29 AM

USA, will you promise to leave the site if McConnel beats Judd. I’m sure you will go along with this because you have stated with certainty that Judd will win.

Lets hope the tea party gets him first.We do not need this lib

Doug Z

Grasshopper is this what DNC needs

I think if you are from Chicogo where more people are killed that war.

The Denver Post, on February 15th, ran an Associated Press article entitled Homeland Security aims to buy 1.6b rounds of ammo, so far to little notice. It confirmed that the Department of Homeland Security has issued an open purchase order for 1.6 billion rounds of ammunition. As reported elsewhere, much of this purchase order is for rounds forbidden by international law for use in war, along with a frightening amount specialized for snipers. Also reported elsewhere, at the height of the Iraq War the Army was expending less than 6 million rounds a month. Therefore 1.6 billion rounds would be enough to sustain a hot war for 20+ years. In America.

Cathy

Gabriel, Why are you blaming the Heritage Foundation for not including a $7.35/hr job into their dogmatic calculations?

The U.S. government through the IRS has all the information needed to find out how many head of households make min wage and how many people make min wage. The information is just sitting there in their data base. It would take 30 minutes at the most for a programmer to write a sql query to get us the facts. So why don’t they? What doesn’t the government want us to know? Obama is pushing for the increase, he can order the query and get his proof but he doesn’t. Doesn’t that fact set off your BS radar? It sets off mine.

I got tired of hearing about the “greed” of companies and how these evil people pay as little as they can. If this was true they would employ mostly people 20 and under. Min wage laws do not apply to them. People 20 and under only have to be paid $4.25 an hour.

If you don’t want a min wage job get training. You only have to go to a 12 weeks of training to become a nurse’s aide. Every town is looking for nurse’s aides and the starting pay is $10 an hour. Health care is a growing career field too.

Go to a trade school, engine repair, truck driving, Culinary school, plumbing, electrical, home repair, etc. There are tons of things. There are numerous federal programs that pay for this training, plus all high schools have career programs that start you on your way.

Why do people feel they don’t need a skill? Why do employers owe you a “living wage” when you have no skills? After a year of work most people are making over Obama’s $9.00. Yes stores like Sears, Meijer and Walmart have levels you can’t get passed without a degree. So, get the degree.

Times have changed. The high paying factory jobs are going away. You can no longer muddle through high school and get a “living wage”. Companies need people with skills. Computers and robots can do the repetitive tasks.

For the few that have limited physical and mental, we are going to have to have social programs for them. No one has a problem help these people.

What many of us have problems with is people saying, “I don’t want to be a nurse’s aide. You have to change adult diapers! I like being a cashier. Walmart should pay me more.”

Doug Z

Cathy , we need to put high school grads to work, Produce product, make money, pay tax on that money and everything will be OK

Doug Z

Cathy , you are right we do not need Min wage, just product to sell.

Ratboy

Well now I have heard EVERYTHING!!!

No Joke: Chris Matthews Asks When Obama ‘Going to Get Some Credit for This Amazing Economy’

In case you missed it, the February jobs report on Friday contained some encouraging news. National Journal’s Michael Hirsh wrote that the BLS numbers gave President Obama “what he’s wanted for four years: an unemployment rate that’s below where he started as president, 7.7 percent.” But Hirsh was guarded in his optimism, also acknowledging that “things are not really as good as the numbers suggest, and they are all but certain to get worse.”

No such considerations entered into the mind of Chris Matthews Friday night when he wondered aloud on “Hardball” when Republicans were going finally make sure that Obama got “credit for this amazing economy that’s coming back.”

Cathy

A NY judge shoots down the Nanny Mayor’s sugar drinks law.

usa8888

This just in: just for laughs I watched Fox Business just now talking about the Lian ryan’s budget and austerity. First, let me say that if any of you have lots of money in the Stock Market, I hope you haven’t been listening to Fox Business because you would have lost TONS of money. Second, Fox interviews, as expected, some right wing columnist who hasn’t the slighest idea what auterity means…and, in fact, he defined it WRONG…of course, I know the correct answer, but for some Fox viewers without economics background, the viewer would be completely misled…which is fine as long as the viewer doesn’t have any money in the Market and thus is not likely to lose money on this incorrect advice. These rgiht wingers don’t have a clue about economics and so their “advice” is not only WORTHLESS but could cost an investor lots of money…..

dana

Chris Mathews called Obama the “Perfect American”??? He said that he never did anything wrong? I guess he never read Obamas book,,,,,

usa8888

The NY mayor was correct in trying to make laws that will stop foolish people from drowning in sugar and later in life, costing the tax payers lots of money to take care of their self-abused bodies. But, as expected, the right wingers are against this. In fact, right winger John Stossell of Fox Fake News doesn’t want any regulations on cigarettes–can you imagine? But that’s the right wing for you……

usa8888

If the right wing Robme and Lian Ryan were in charge, we would be in GREAT DEPRESSON ##2……Keep the right wing out of Obama’s way!!!!!!
Right wing priorities:
1) eliminate birth control and support the Personhood Amendment
2) eliminate gun background checks so more criminals and lunatics can get assault weapons and murder more children and adults
3) give big tax breaks to billionaires with yachts and private jets
4) replace science with creationism and bible study
5) eliminate Social Security, Medicare, the EPA, the FDA, the Federal Reserve, etc.
6) embrace racism, bigotry and general backward thinking
7) worship lunatics like Slimebaugh, Beck, Hannity and send them money
8) attend the CPAC Comedy Convention
9) watch Faux News–the propaganda arm of the right wing (bias 24/7)
10) ruin the economy by cutting spending in a recession or depression
11) Obstruction, obstruction, obstruction

Bloomberg has a new enforcement division that had planned on taking the big size cups in for comparison when spot checking. Those still using them were going to lose food inspection points. Starbucks was planing on ignoring the “law” for now.

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I can’t wait to read this.

Detroit: An American Autopsy

Charlie LeDuff (former employer NYT’s)

It is a story about forsaken humanity where people have lost not only a connection to work, but also the connections to all the people around them. It is about a government that destroys people and every one of those relationships.

After 50 years of failed government promises in Detroit, the money has dried up, welfare has run out and the city is headed for fire sale.

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Military Awards Bronze Star To Air Force Chaplain For PowerPoint On Islamic Sensitivity Training…

An Air Force chaplain has been awarded a Bronze Star for his service in crafting an especially good PowerPoint about how to treat Islamic religious materials with sensitivity, according to Ohio’s Dayton Daily News.